Stakeouts are the Best – The MN Proposal

You remember those iconic movies where they experience stakeouts and it looks like so much fun? (Horrible Bosses 1)

This past weekend I experienced my first stakeout with Five O Seven Photo to capture an engagement proposal! One of my best friend’s boyfriend reached out to me and said, “You have to make it out to Minnesota this weekend, I am proposing to Calley and I want you to take photos of it happening.” Let me caveat here that I live in Dallas and booked a 48-hour stay in Minnesota 2 nights before! Next thing I knew I was flying off to Minnesota. Now the one thing you must know is how on-point and detailed her boyfriend, Andrew, was when we discussed the plan of action for the proposal and the shoot.

Alright here’s whats going down! Once I pull the boat up in front of the pavilion, to your right side looking out at the lake, I’m going to kill the engine and then within a matter of 20 seconds I’ll propose to her. I have a good idea how to do it so just be ready. I’ll text you when we’re close.

This incredible girl had no idea it was coming! She thought they were going fishing. If only she knew her best friend flew in and was up in a pavilion at the Noerenberg Gardens staked out and captured the whole proposal.

This is a huge trend right now of capturing the proposal. A different approach we took for this shoot was that I never revealed myself to them after she said, “Yes!” – throughout the entire on the lake proposal she did not know I was there. This allowed for some real expressions (granted I needed a killer zoom on my Canon 60D, 100-400mm) that can’t be posed for. The downfall to this proposal approach is when you are in this situation you can’t maneuver their body positioning or stance (especially in my situation when they were out in the water). You truly get what you can in the moment and that’s what is the thrill of it! Priceless memories and moments they will have forever. (Plus a trendy on-site proposal shoot to come!)

To keep the story going, the groom-to-be is sharing with Five O Seven Photography audience why this proposal took place on Lake Minnetonka near the Noerenberg Gardens.

The Noerenberg Gardens is a place Calley brought me to on our second date as a surprise and on that date is when I knew that something was different about her and that she was a girl worth pursuing. So I figured what better place to propose than in front of those gardens on the boat. The lake is a special place for both Calley and I and fishing is something we both enjoy and do a lot together so the whole set up was a natural choice.

I didn’t want this to be an average proposal, I really wanted to knock her socks off so I figured what better way to do so then to surprise her with her friends and family… I put together a surprise party back at Calley’s house to show her how much I care about her and her family… and to fly one of her best friends out.